3 Review(s)

perhaps the reason i was able to see so far ahead was only because i was standing on the shoulders of giants. Isaac newton about the book the book paints a collage that is divided into three parts the first is entitled the state of art and consists of six chapters. The first chapter deals with the concept of excellence per se, while the second treats quality as an essential aspect and ingredient of excellence. It looks at quality as a vital aspect of excellence and sustainability. It is only logical that in the modern age of the intellect, the knowledge worker is crucial, thus, in the next chapter authors have treated the question of managing the knowledge worker. In the post-modern capitalist world economy, the question of money cannot be overlooked and since the indian corporate world is structurally positivist, the treatment of how the ceo understands money i.e. Finances and banking is dealt with. Once money enters the managerial calculus and with it, its management, good governance becomes that much more important especially in the light of the lehman brothers debacle abroad and the satyam credibility crisis at the home turf. The sixth chapter takes up the earlier theme first expounded by one of the authors in 1999 in positing a strategic triad. Picturing a triangle, we can have business ethics and corporate governance at the nodal points on the base with organisational excellence at the apex of the triangle. The area covered by the three sides of this triangle represents value centred organisational culture. The first part thus lays the basis of the ensuing argument. The second part is entitled the building blocks and consists of eight chapters. The first chapter in this part talks of how excellence can be leveraged since business sustainability is the ultimate corporate goal. Then the question of change is taken up since change of the sine qua non of all developmental growth and it needs to be understood and appreciated. The third chapter looks inwardly towards the question of building a corporate culture that assists competitive organisational behaviour, whereas the fourth looks outwardly and examines how the customer is managed. After all, converting a customer into a client is the mission of every marketing activity. The fifth chapter once again looks internally and treats the question of supply chain management since it is crucial to excellence. The sixth chapter then, once again, looks outwardly and deals with the issue of brand management that is vital for any strategic attempt towards sustainability. Since no organisation can be an island unto itselfand is very much a social citizen the chapter examines the question of corporate social responsibility and going beyond it. Currently, when functions and structures are simultaneously collapsing on the one hand and where change is at once non-linear and non-newtonian, on the other, the last chapter in this part looks critically at the emergent disembodied organisations. Herein the issues of bpr, bpo and kpo are examined within the context of erp. Hence, this part presents the meat of the argument. The third part of the book a continuum in the future and is entitled the transformational journey since the aim is to transform a merely competitive organisation into an excellent one that is sustainable from a business viewpoint. This part contains four chapters. The first chapter takes up the question of quality once again but with a difference how it holistically contributes to excellence and sustainability. The enigmatic statement made by jayashree in 1999, a spectre is haunting us, the spectre of mediocrity, seems to ring true even a decade and half on. Hence, the next chapter examines how od can be used to transform the mediocre into the excellent. Thereafter, the author look at a futuristic view of excellence and end the part and the book with a chapter on the journey from organisational excellence to business sustainability. Therefore, cumulatively this part gives the reader a final prognosis. About the author dr. Sorab sadri is a product of xavier labour relations institute and the london school of economics and political science. He is an economist who has specialized in human resources management and has thirty four years of academic experience ranging three continents and five countries and ten years of corporate experience. He has written prolifically and by dint of his published work has made a name for himself in the fields of political economy of development, industrial relations, strategic human resources and business ethics. He has held professorial and directorial positions in some of the most notable b-schools in india since 1991. Dr. Jayashree sadri is a product of university of mumbai, the sndt women?s university, narsee monjee institute of management studies and jjt university. She is a member of the all india management association, member of the institute of training and development, and a qualified corporate trainer who has published widely in the fields of hrm and value based management. She has twenty-six years of administrative experience of which ten years were simultaneously and gainfully used in the pursuit of research and academic publication. She has been a senior visiting faculty in several b schools in western india. At present she is management consultant in human resource and business ethics based in the tri-city of chandigarh-mohali-panchkula. Col retd anil kumar sharma, is a product of the national defence academy, kharakvasla, pune and has done his masters in business administration from sims pune and mphil in.